The Most Wanted

by Jacquelyn Mitchard and Mitchard Jacquelyn

Book Overview

The Most Wanted, Jacquelyn Mitchard's incandescent new novel, bursts into life with the bright flash of a forest fire -- in a story about the unreasoning power of love that sweeps us up from its first few lines and holds us in its spell to the very end.Arley Mowbray, only fourteen years old, is dreaming her life away in South Texas when -- defying all earthly logic -- she falls in love, at hurricane force, with an outlaw and secretly becomes his wife...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670878847
• ISBN13: 9780670878840
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 407 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.3" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

The perfect title for a book about love, in all its forms

I never expected to enjoy this book. I bought it at goodwill for about ten cents because I had read The Deep End of the Ocean and thought it was ok. I was shocked by this book. Perhaps because at the time I read it I was only two years older than Arley, our 14 year old heroine, I was drawn in immediately to this book. But it wasn't just Arley's relationship with Dillon, her convict husband, I mean; goddess knows at 17 I've had my share of fantasies about an older man loving me, thats a normal thing for teenagers. But really, it was the loneliness that Arley felt, the sense of belonging to no one, and no one belonging to her that I identified with. I also identified with Annie, Arley lawyer who is hired to get her and Dillon a conjugal visit, in this book. Her sense of loss from her long term relationship, her strange rush of mothering emotions for Arley, her wonder at buying her own home. I do have to say that the love story with Dillon was odd, to say the least, and I wasn't unhappy that it ended the way it ended. Arely more than deserved a chance to be a kid, but she deserved to be loved as well, and that what Dillon did, besides, if she never met Dillon, she never would have met Annie, and that's what really changed her life. I'm afraid I can't express my love of this book with words. I would just like to say that this book is about love in all its forms. It's about the beauty, danger, lust, wonderment and expectations that go along with love, and how they change our lives. Jacquelyn Mitchard is a genius at expressing emotion with words. She can make you feel love, anger, hate, pain and rage. She can even confuse you, bewilder you and make you feel as tormented as her characters are. The plot of this book has been summarized many times before, so I'll just say this. If you've ever been in love, or loved anything, a dog, a parent, another person, a plant, or if you've ever been lonely, you'll love this book. I also found the poem at the very end of book that Arley wrote for her daughter to be incredibly beautiful, and I hope if I have a child one day I would read it to them

A unique perspective of an all too common situation

It's not often that an author gets inside of a teenage mother's head--and reveals one of those that tries very hard to be careful and logical. There are some of these girls out there: those that want to do the best things and yet the rest of the world would never see the method behind the madness; or the logic (skewed, but understandable) in what they're doing. I found this to be an EXCELLENT book... true to the times and yet not downhearted enough to make me want to put it down (because we have enough misery--don't we?).

Wouldn't it be nice if this story really was unbelievable?

I've been reading some other reviews, and it seems that the people who didn't like the book disliked it because they thought the story was unbelievable. Wow! Wouldn't the world be nice if there were no abandoned children like Arley? No criminals like Dillon? No despicable parents like Arley's mother? The world would be a nicer place, I'm sure. But, the world is not a nice place. Screwed up things that make a plot like this credible happen every single day. Maybe some people don't like to read about them. But, if you are not one of those people - and if you like books about human compassion and the spirit of survival, this is definitely a book for you.What got me the most about this book was the author's uncanny ability to bring you inside the head of a troubled teenaged girl. Then, when she would switch back to writing as if she were Anne, you were right inside the head of a woman who was sitting at the crossroad of her life. I could understand everything each character did, and why. This even holds true for the many "bad guys" in this book. They rang true and remained consistent throughout the book. Some people only like to read about situations they can identify with and/or people they want to be like. If that were the truth for me, I would not have liked this book because God only knows, I would not want to trade places with any of these people. But for me, reading is about going places I would dare not go myself. And, boy oh boy did this book take me there. I wouldn't want to be Arley AND I sure wouldn't want to be Annie, either. And, maybe that was why I liked this book so much. Because, the author put me in a place I would never go myself and made me believe in it. She made me feel the hope that these characters needed to go on. Now if you ask me - THAT IS WHAT GOOD WRITING IS ALL ABOUT!

LYRICAL AND TOUCHING

There are two kinds of books that make me read fast: A very good book that I can't put down and race through to see what happens; and a very bad book that I zip through just to get it over with. This book actually inspired me to read very slowly, savoring each word like a sip of good brandy. In spite of the controversial subject matter, there is an innocence and purity about this story. In fact, Arlington reminds me quite a bit of my own 15 year old daughter, who is both naive and hopelessly romantic and incredibly beautiful. I have given her this book to read, and look forward to hearing her opinion. If the reader can get past the their prejudices about adult/adolescent relationships (we somehow accept Romeo and Juliet who were just children!)then we can allow ourselves to feel the deep love between two very different people - a love that ultimately becomes destructive. Nor is the idea of a 14-year old girl falling in love with a hardened older guy at all incomprensible. It is probably the fantasy of many of our young teen daughters. Mitchard's ability to so accurately evoke the feelings of a young, budding girl/woman in the flush of first love is astounding. By the same token her rendering of Annie, a slightly cynical adult captivated by Arley, gives a wonderful contrast. The story weaves back and forth between Annie and Arley. And so, I found myself ready very slowly, losing myself in this emotionally charged story, in no rush to leave two women I had come to admire. I also find myself looking at my young daughter differently - I take her feelings much more seriously and realize that as young as she is, she is capable of deeper feelings that we adults would otherwise give credit to. Thank you, Jaqueline Mitchard, for a magical, tragic, but ultimately uplifting experience for this reader!

Best of Genre

This book is a rarity as far as I'm concerned... an easy read that doesn't insult your intelligence. Yes, it was sentimental and centered entirely on the relationships between the characters, but there isn't anything wrong with that! It's the best book I've read from this genre. The trend of so many recent novels is to present you with main characters who are so flawed as to make them one-dimensional. Lately I've read too many books that I've been too irritated to finish because I couldn't find one character in the entire story I could relate to or root for. "The Most Wanted" gives you a whole slew of characters to choose from who are flawed enough to be real without compromising their integrity. The reader will realize the impending marriage is doomed from the first page but this book is not about the relationship between Arly and Dillon. The point is to show how lives are changed at pivotal moments... how what other people may perceive as the biggest mistake of your life can actually be the force which irrevocably sets you on a path you would have never chosen for yourself... a path that enriches your life in ways you could have never imagined.